Switch mechanism.



G. W. FISHER & F. HOYLAND, J11.

SWITCH MECHANISM. APPLICATION rum) 110V. 21, 1909.

Patented May 28, 1912.

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SWITCH MECHANISM.

urmoumn rum) NOV. 27, 1909.

Patented May 28, 1912.

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- swiroii MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28,1912.

Application filed November 27, 1909. Serial No. 530,166.

' improvements upon the railway switch and signal described and claimed in our pending application, Serial No. 479,520 filed Feb. 23, 1909, and Patent No. 930,370, dated August 10, 1909, the object of the invention being to provide switch actuating means and safety devices cooperating therewith to prevent injury or damage to the switch and switch-operating mechanism when the switch is run through.

Our former application described in detail a switch bar which wastelescopic and which yielded upon the passage of a train through a switch, and then described a I safety signal appliance and switch stand of a two-fold nature indicating danger to the engineer or operator of the approaching train and preventing crippling of the switch points as well as the operating means therefor. V

Our present invention provides, in addition to the devices described in our former applications, a means for locking the switch points against the stock or track rails, or indicating when the switch points are in proper contact with the track or stock rails, and when for any reason they have not been moved properly into such contact, the invention. including signaling means on the switch stand which will not move from a position indicating danger until the switch points have been properly moved into conjunction with the track rails.

For a full understanding of the invention andthe merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a switch I stand, constructed in accordance with our invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, together with a portion of the adjacent track; Fig. 3 is a perspectlve view of the signal and switch operating lever; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the plate 11 by which the signal standard is rotated; and, Fig. 5 is a longitudinalsection of the signal mechanism.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a pair of movable switch points, of ordinary construction, adapted to move into contact with the stock rails B, these points being connected by means of a switch bar 2 and by a looking or indicating bar 8 whose-relation will be hereafter more fully described. C designates, in general, a switch stand having generally the form shown in our former application, Serial No. 479,520, before referred to. The switch stand C is secured in any desired way to a tie or other support forming part of the road bed. Said stand has a downwardly extending standard 4 adapted to engage with the tie or support,

and this standard carries upon it a semicircular table 5 provided in its edge, near opposite ends, with the locking notches 6 for engagement with a switch lever, as usual in switch stands. Extending upward adjacent tothe table 4 is the rotatable mast 7 carrying at its lower end the outwardly projecting crank arm 8 pivotally connected to the switch bar 2. The upper end of the mast is provided with a signal lantern, as will be later described.

Loosely mounted on the mast for independent movement therearound, is the arm 9 which at its forward end is provided with the pivoted switch-operating lever 10. This lever, when it is turned into its depending position, is adapted to engage with either one ofthe notches 6 in the table 5. A segmental plate 11 is carried upon the mast 7 and forms a means whereby the mast is turned. The extremity of the switch lever 10 engages with a notch 11 in'the plate 11 when the switch lever is lifted to a position substantially at right angles "to the mast 7. In this position, its inner extremity will engage the plate 11, and thus the arm 9, the switch lever, and the plate 11 will be locked together, and a movement of the switch lever in one direction or theother will be communicated to the mast and rotate the same thus, throughthe crank 8 throwingthe switch point from one position to the other. The arm 9 is provided intermediate of its ends with the upwardly projecting socket 14, the walls of which are beveled at their ends, as at 15. This socket is adapted to receive one end of a locking pin 17. The other end of the pin engages with a notch 18 formed in a locking plate 19. This plate is semicircular in general form and formed with a hub 19 which is pinned to the mast 7 so that the plate will rotate with the mast. On its upper face the plate is provided with the upwardly projecting shoulder 20 having at its extremities the notches or recesses 21 with which the pin 17 is adapted to engage. The pin 17 is yieldable, and when inserted in place, yieldingly engages the plate 20 with the arm 9, but permits the plate 19 to turn independently of the arm 9, by reason of the pin 17 yielding. It will thus be seen that an actuation of the switch points, by reason of a train running through the points, will rotate the mast and will rotate the plate 19, but without rotating the arm 9.

Mounted upon the upper end of the mast 7 is the sleeve 22 which carries at its upper end the cylindrical shell 23, this shell being provided near its lower end with the red lenses 24 set at diametrically opposite points with relation to each other, and with the red targets 25 also set in diametrical relation to each other and in a quartering relation to the lenses, so that the lenses will show at night and the targets in the daytime, the shell being in one position. In addition to the red lenses 24, the shell is also provided with white lenses 24 set at right angles to the red lenses 24. The upper end of the switch lever 10 is connected by a link 26 with one arm 27 of a double bell crank lever 28 which is pivotally mounted on a loose sleeve 28*. This bell crank lever has the opposed arms 29 and 30. The arm 30 has at the end a socket 31 which detachably receives the rounded extremity 32 of a rod 33, the upper end of which rod is pivotally connected to the sleeve 22. The rod is connected to rotate with the mast 7 by means of an arm 7 extending out from and rigidly attached to said mast, which arm loosely engages the rod.

Mounted upon the switch stand 4 and extending up therefrom, is a standard 34 which is angularly bent at its upper end, as at 35, and carries the depending rods 36. These rods support a hood 37 having a depending angular side wall 38. Rods pass through the hood 37 and at their lower ends are inwardly and upwardly bent and support a lamp 39. This lamp is provided with the white light bulls eyes 40 which, when in one position of the shell 23, are in alinement with the bulls eyes 24 or 24 in said shell 23, but which, when the shell 23 drops, are out of alinement therewith, but in alinement with a band of colored translucent ma terial 24 indicating danger.

Pivotally mounted upon the standard 34 is the-signal arm or target 41, this arm being provided with the angularly projecting portion 42 which is pivotally connected to a link 43 which in turn is pivotally connected to a sleeve 44 surrounding the mast 7. The mast is independently rotatable of the sleeve 44, but any vertical movement of the mast will carry thesleeve vertically up or down and will actuate the semaphore arm 41. The devices heretofore described are practically the same as those in our prior application above referred to, but in order to provide means for locking the points in their thrown position to one side or the other so as to afford a means of absolutely determining whether the points are in proper adjusted position with the rails, and yet provide means whereby the train may run through the switch, we add to the signal-actuating mechanism a plunger bolt which engages with a telescopic and yieldable switch bar, the switch bar being, to all intents and purposes, practically the same as that described in our switch mechanism patented August 10, 1909, No. 930,370. To this end, the switch bar 3 is forced at its inner extremity with a socket 45 or longitudinally extending casing into which fits one end of a bar 46 which extends transversely beneath the switch stand. This bar 46, on its face, is formed with a recess 47, a portion of the bar on each side of the recess being notched, as at 48. The casing 45 is formed with a recess 49, and carried in said recess and engaging with the recess 47 is the yieldable pin 50 which normally acts to hold the two bars 3 and 46 together as one bar, but which, when a train runs through the switch, will yield sufficiently to permit the bar 3 to move relatively to the bar 46.

Projecting from the switch stand is the rectangular frame 51 which carries the guides 52 through which the reduced end or shank of the bar 46 passes and slides. This frame is formed with the perforations 53 and 54.

Extending rearward from the arm 9 beyond its juncture with the mast 7, is the arm 55 which is then extended downward and carries an arm 56 which at one end is formed with a bearing for the mast 7 and at its outer end is formed with a guide 57 through which the locking bolt passes. The locking bolt 59 has the form of a plunger and is pivotally attached to the extremity of the arm 29 of the bell crank lever 28. The arm is also formed in two sections, the lower section 60 being pivot-ed to the upper section 61. The lower section passes through the guide 58 and is adapted, when the signal is raised and the switch is partly set to one or the other of its positions, to pass through the passages 53 or 54 and through the corresponding holes in the reduced portion of the rod 46. Thus, when the switch is in the position shown in Fig.

2, the locking bolt 60 will pass through the bolt will pass through the perforation 54. It will be obvious that unless the points are thrown into their proper posit-ion with relation to the track rails, the openings in the bar 426 will not register with the opening in the guide 52, and hence, that the bolt cannot be forced down. Therefore, the switch handle will remain in its raised position and the shell 23 will remain in its depressed position with the semaphore arm raised. This indicates not. only to the switchman, but to the engineer of an approaching train, that the switch is not properly set, and also provides the means required on practically all railroads to-day that switches shall be provided with mechanism whereby the conjunction of the points with the track rails may be noted, and whereby the points may be locked in their closed position without depending upon the switch handle alone as a means of holding them in this position.

The operation of our invention is as follows: When the switch is moved by hand, the lever or handle 10 is turned into an approximately horizontal position, thereby causing its upper end to enter the notch 11 in the plate 11, thus relieving the yieldable locking pin 17 from all strain when throwing the switch. As the switch lever or handle 10 is moved, the link 26 is moved toward the mast 7, operating the bell crank lever 28- and drawing down upon the rod 23 and the shell, with the result that the shell or casing 23 drops and the semaphore arm rises to a position indicating danger, the

parts remaining in this position until the switch is fully thrown and the lever 10 turned into an approximately vertical position and engaged with a notch in the switch stand. It will of course be understood that after the switch bar has been thrown and the lever 10 made secure, the yieldable locking pin 17 holds the handle in its adjusted position. Should a trainrun through the switch, the mast 7 will of course be turned, thereby causing the locking pin 17 to ride out of the notch 18 and engage with one or the other of the shoulders 21, thereby securing the switch in the position into which it was thrown by the train running through the switch. As the mast 7 is turned, the arms 7 will turn therewith, thereby disengaging from the coupling member 31, whereupon the shell or casing 23 will drop and the semaphore arm 18 rise and indicate danger to-the succeeding train. The yieldable locking device between the parts 9 and 19 prevents injuryeither to the switch point or the connecting or actuating means. It is also to be noted that after the switch has been thrown by a trainrunning therethrough, it becomes automatically locked in the new position, while at the same time the danger-indicating devices come into play to warn the engineer or operator of the next train of the impending danger. Itjwill also be seen that the telescopic switch bar composed of the members 3 and 46 will yield upon the running through of a train, so that no damage will occur to the bar or switch stand.

It will be seen that it is necessary to provide both a means whereby the mast 7 may rotate without also rotating the lever 9, and whereby the locking bar 46 may yield to permit the switch points to be moved by a train running through the switch without the necessity of also moving the locking bolt 61. Inasmuch as the locking bolt 61 is connected through the bell crank lever 28 to the arm 26, the handle 10 and the lever 9, it would be of course impossible to move this bolt 61 laterally with a shifting locking bar without damaging the switch. It is for this reason-that it is necessary to provide a looking bar which is made in two sections, one of the sections shifting relatively to the other, though being normally held in an extended relation. Thus when a train runs through the switch points and forces the switch points over, the mast 7 will rotate, rotating thereby the signal, but this rotation of the mast will not operate the lever 9 which is locked. The connecting pin 17 will yield for this purpose, as before described. At the same time while one section of the locking bar will move over with the shifting of the switch points, the pin 50 will yield and the other section of the switch bar will remain stationary and thus there will be no rotative action upon the locking bolt. The rotative shifting of the mast 7, however, will cause the rod 38 to become dis engaged from the socket 32, which is held stationary with the locking bolt 61, and hence the signal will drop, displaying the translucent band 24 as a danger signal.

Our switch signal mechanism is'of particular value in that the signal lantern can: not be set to its proper position, unless the switch points are in contact with the track rails, that is, fully thrown to one side or the other. Further, these points can not be locked in position unless the point-s are fully thrown. More than this, the fact that the points are not fully thrown, either because of a train running through the switch, or because of inadvertence on the part of the switch tender, is indicated by the signal to the engineer of the approaching train.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1 1. The combination with the shiftable points of a railway switch, of actuating ating mechanism being yieldable when the points are moved independently thereof, a locking bar connected with the switch points to shift therewith, a locking mechanism engaging said bar when the switch points are thrown to the full limit of their movement in either direction by said actuating mechanism, a signal connected to the locking mechanism and movable to a certain position when the locking mechanism is disengaged from said locking bar, said signal having a tendency to move toward said position and the connection between the signal and the locking mechanism being breakable when the switch points are independently actuated, to permit the signal to move to said position.

2. The combination with the shiftable points of a railway switch, of a switch bar connected to the points, actuating mechanism connected to the bar for shifting the points in either direction but yieldable to permit a movement of the points and bar when the points are moved independently of the actuating mechanism, a locking bar connected to the switch points to shift there with, a locking mechanism engaging the said bar when the switch points are thrown to the full limit of their movement in either direction by said actuating mechanism, a signal connected to the locking mechanism and movable to a certain predetermined position when the locking mechanism is disengaged from said locking bar, said signal having a tendency to move toward said position and the locking mechanism being breakable when the switch points are independently actuated to thus release the signal and permit it to move to said position.

8. The combination with the shiftable points of a railway switch, of a switch bar connected to the points, actuating mechanism connected to the bar for shifting the points in either direction, breakable connection bet-ween the actuating mechanism and the bar and points, breakable when the switch points are moved independently of the actuating mechanism, a locking bar connected to the switch points to shift therewith, said locking bar being composed of two sections, a yielding member holding said sections in an extended position but yielding to permit the sections to move upon each other when the switch points are independently actuated by the passage of a train, a locking mechanism engaging with the inner section of said bar when the switch points are thrown to the full limit of their movement in either direction by said actuating mechanism, a signal connected to the locking mechanism and movable thereby to a certain predetermined position when the locking mechanism is disengaged from said bar, said signal having a tendency to move toward said position and also movable by said locking mechanism to a certain other position when the locking mechanism is engaged with the locking bar, the connection between the signal and the locking mechanism being breakable to release the signal and permit it to move to said position when the switch points are independently actuated by the passage of a train.

4. The combination with the shiftable points of a railway switch, of a switch actuating rod and a locking bar, both connected to the switch points to shift therewith, an actuating means for the switch rod, an operating lever yieldingly engaged with the actuating means to operate the latter, means for locking the lever from a switch actuating movement, a locking bolt carried by the lever and movable therewith in one plane, said bolt being also independently movable in another plane into and out of locking engagement with the locking bar when the switch points are moved into either of their extreme positions by said actuating mechanism, a signal having connection with the locking bolt and movable into a certain position when the locking bolt is disengaged from the locking bar, said signal having a tendency to move toward said position, and the connection between the sig nal and the bolt being breakable, when the switch points are independently actuated by the passage of a train to release the signal andpermit it to move to said position.

5. The combination with the shiftable points of a railway switch, of a switch-actuating rod and a locking bar, both connected to the points to shift therewith, an actuating means for the switch rod including a rotatable member, an operating lever yieldingly engaged with the rotatable member to turn the latter by the former, means for locking the lever from any rotative movement, a locking bolt carried by the lever and movable therewith in its rotative movement in one plane, said locking bolt being also movable in another plane into locking engagement with the locking bar when the switch points are moved into either of their extreme positions by said actuating mechanism, and a signal having a connection to the locking bolt and being also connected to the rotatable member, said signal being movable into or out of a certain position when the locking bolt is disengaged from the locking bar or engaged therewith and having a tendency to move toward said position, the connection between the signal and the bolt being breakable when the switch points are independently actuated by the passage of a train, thereby permitting the signal to move to said position.

6. The combination with the shiftable points of a railway switch, of a switch-actuating rod and a locking bar, both connected to the points to shift therewith, a rotatable member, means for moving the switch rod upon a rotation of the said member, an operating lever mounted to move concentrically to the rotatable member and independently thereof, means for yieldingly engaging the lever to the rotatable member, an arm attached to the lever and projecting out therefrom and being formed with a vertical guide therethrough, a locking bolt bodily movable with the lever in a horizontal plane and vertically movable in said guide into locking engagement with the locking bar when the switch points are moved into either of their extreme positions by said actuating mechanism, and a signal having a connection to the locking bolt and movable into a certain position when the locking bolt is disengaged from.

the locking bar, said signal having a tendency to move into said position, the connection between the signal and the bolt being breakable when the, switch points are independently actuated by the passage of a train.

7. The combination with the shittable points of a railway switch, of a switch-actuating rod and a locking bar, both connected to the points to shift therewith, a rotatable member engaging with the switch rod to actuate the switch points upon a rotation of the member, an operating lever mounted to rotate concentrically with the rotatable member but loose thereon, yielding means for locking the said lever into engagement with the rotatable member so that the latter may be rotated from the former, means for locking the lever from rotation, an arm on the lever, a vertically disposed locking bolt carried in said arm and movable therewith in a horizontal plane, said locking bolt being movable through the arm in a vertical plane and adapted to engage with the locking bar when the switch points have been thrown to either of their extreme positions by said actuating mechanism, a sleeve on the rotatable member, a three-arm bell crank lever pivoted on said sleeve, one arm on the bell crank lever being connected to the locking bolt, another arm being provided with a socket, the third arm of said lever being connected to the operating lever, a signal, a rod connected'to the signal and supported by and rotatable with the rotatable member, the lower end of said arm having a head resting in the socket of the bell crank lever, and a yielding member in the locking bar permitting one portion of the switch bar to move upon the passage of a train through the switch without moving the locking bolt.

In testimony whereof we affix our signa' tures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. FISHER. [L.S.] FRED HOYLAND, JR. [L.s.] Witnesses:

JOHN BETTENDORF, C NRAD BILLETER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

